But what else is a grown woman to do when she has resigned her job (other than hawk her body, which admittedly is a teensy bit past its prime.)

Here I am, because I have found my passion. How lucky I am. Right?

Let’s try that again:

Here I am, because I have found my passion, in my late thirties, around the same time that I popped out my last child. Still lucky, but not as convenient.

Pop. ‘Ouch.’‘Ooh, that is going to need stitches!’ ‘I want to write and illustrate children’s books!’

Well, it went something like that.

Inconvenient, because my passion is not accounting, or engineering, or real estate.

My passion is in the arts, literary and visual and with a fetish for picture books. If I was in my twenties, sharing my house with some kooky housemates with no responsibilities other than to prove myself artistically, things may be different.

But, my kooky housemates are my three sons, my husband, our dog, our run-away cat and our 30 or so tadpoles. And we have bills to pay. And an artistic passion to follow. Dose of guilt anyone?

So here I am, trying to entice those quirky philanthropic billionaires to share some of their wealth so I can continue to follow my dream. If that doesn’t work, I am happy to accept patronage from anyone who would like to support the arts. Unless you are a struggling student in the creative arts. Then you need your vitamins, go and buy a bag of apples instead.

So what can I entice you with?

How about I share my experiences as a struggling self-employed author/ illustrator. I’ll try not to make it depressing and share my thoughts EXCLUSIVELY (imagine that word on a sign surrounded by flashing lights, ooh, and perhaps a touch of smoke machine for that magic touch) with my patrons.

Or, if you would just like to follow me, without the patronage, go ahead, I’ll share some of my illustrations and general going-ons on a regular basis, but without the soul-searching-midlife-crises-esque-slap-stick thoughts. The boring version so to speak. With pretty pictures. So pretty good, really.

I've also thrown in some behind the scenes-looks and opportunities with special rewards and discounts. I'd love get an idea of what other rewards you are interested in, so please let me know.

That’s it. That is all the enticing that I’ve got in me.

Want to ask me a question? I am sure you can do that somewhere on this page. And I’ll answer.After I pick the kids up from school.

What a thrill and an honour to have my artwork displayed next to so many glorious 52-Week Illustrations.52 shortlists were made up of selected works from each week's theme with the final artworks revealed on opening night on Monday.

The first week in the Challenge was 'Eggs' and that week I just happened to have bought myself some Copic Markers to experiment with and fell in love with the idea of a little family of speckled eggs tucked away in a cosy nest.

Those speckled eggs from a year ago turned out to be a finalist in the 52-Week Illustration Exhibition at Arts Brookfield in Perth last week.

Back then the Challenge had just started and no one knew what spectacular opportunities it would create for so many artists.

Tania McCartney, children's author and illustrator, and founder of the 52-week Illustration Challenge was surprised when the challenge she had started to fire up her own creativity took off like a rocket, with members now exceeding 3000!

Tania recently handed the reins over to children's author/ illustrator Nicky Johnston who is supported by a group of admin made up of Challenge members.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tania and Nicky at the Sydney SCBWI Conference last year, these ladies are not only hardworking and talented but also very supportive of other authors and illustrators. The Challenge attracted many opportunities for members, Jess Racklyeft was chosen by a publisher to illustrate Tania McCartney's upcoming picture book, and I had my book mark selected to feature as part of International Book Giving Day.

The exhibition is on until the 20th of March at Arts Brookfield in Perth.